Afghan Biographies

Nabil, Rahmatullah Maj. Gen.


Name Nabil, Rahmatullah Maj. Gen.
Ethnic backgr. Pashtun
Date of birth 1970
Function/Grade Candidate 2019 Presidential Election
History and Biodata

2. Previous Functions of Maj Gen Nabil:
late 1990s, he was working in Kabul for UNHCR
Deputy head of interior affairs at the National Security Council (NSC), evaluation head and the president's Head of Security in the Presidential Palace (2003 - 2010),
National Directorate of Security Head NDS (20100705 - 20120829) dismissed
National Security Council NSC Deputy Adviser (20121121)
Maj. Gen. Rahmatullah Nabil was appointed acting NDS Director General due to still highly problematic Health Condition of Assadullah Khalid (20130831)
NDS Head (20130800-20150127)
NDS Chief National Directorate of Security resigned (20150128-20151210)
Presidential Election Candidate 2019
 

3. Biodata Maj Gen Rahmatullah Nabil:
nabil_rahmatullahEng. Rahmatullah Nabeel, son of a farmer, was born 1970 in Jaghato District, Maidan Wardak province. He completed his primary education until grade nine at Sher Shah Suri High School in Kabul before being enrolled in the Syed Jamaluddin High School a high school in neighbouring Pakistan. Nabil studied at a private engineering university in Peshawar, Pakistan in 1987 and secured the B.Sc. degree in construction engineering  in 1992.
 

Nabil lost his father at a young age, and spent much of his childhood with an uncle in Kabul. But he fled to Pakistan in the mid-1980s to avoid being sent to Moscow to study on behalf of Afghanistan’s Soviet-backed government. He described life in Pakistan as hard enough that at one point his mother, who made a meager living embroidering dresses, was sending him money so he could earn a degree in civil engineering. A postgraduation job working with refugees in eastern Afghanistan led to a position at the United Nations in Kabul. He remained there throughout the reign of the Taliban, which twice beat him for having too short a beard, he said.


For three years after his graduation, he worked as a construction engineer, planner and technical advisor for Afghan non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Jalalabad and Pakistan's border city of Peshawar. Later on, he joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, working as deputy director of the UN body in Afghanistan for the next eights years.

late 2002, Nabeel went from being an engineer working on projects around Kabul to security officer at the Presidential Palace. He was one of a number of UNHCR staff who followed Engineer Ibrahim to the Palace (Ibrahim and Karzai know each other from Quetta – there are family connections). The new recruitment was part of an attempt to create a professional, Afghan security apparatus at the Palace which would be unwaveringly loyal to Karzai.

He joined the Karzai government in 2005 as deputy head of Afghanistan's National Security Council and head of the presidential special guards unit. It is said he became Turan General (Maj Gen). Friends, former colleagues and members of the presidential protection service describe him as an outstanding manager with little ethnic or political bias.

Rahmatullah Nabil lacks required intelligence skills and is not a well-known person for the post. President Karzai had intended to reshuffle so that he will not face major problems from NDS. Nabil was an unexpected choice to lead the intelligence service and initially not one of the front-runners considered for the job.

He took up the post at a critical time as support for President Hamid Karzai’s government is ebbing inside and outside the country and relations between Karzai and Washington are strained. One of his first decisions was to appoint a man widely rumored to be corrupt, a relative of First Vice President Muhammad Qasim Fahim, to be deputy intelligence chief for Kabul. Asked about the appointment, Mr. Nabil said no one had told him of any suspicions of corruption with regard to the man.
 

In a senate session chaired by Senate Speaker, Fazul Hadi Muslimyar,  Rahmatullah Nabil received the medals for his good services over taking security during holding the four day traditional loya jerga in Kabul.(20111123). He was confirmed as National Directorate of Security (NDS) director-general on Saturday, winning 208 votes from  Wolesi Jirga, lower house of Parliament, members.(20111126)
 

Afghan lawmakers on 20120829 criticized Afghan president Hamid Karzai for dismissing Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief Rahmatullah Nabeel from his position. It is rumored that this decision of president Hamid Karzai was to please neighboring Pakistan because  Nabil maintained a clear stance against Pakistan and Iran as trouble makers for Afghanistan. (20120829). He will later be appointed as an Ambassador.

President Hamid Karzai on 20120906 conferred the Ghazi Mohammad Akbar Khan medal on former spy chief Rahmatullah Nabil in recognition of his services to the nation.(20120907)

According to the informed sources, CEO Abdullah will appoint the National Directorate of Security (NDS) Head with the current NDS chief Rahmatullah Nabil to lead the agency.(20141127) Wolesi Jirga approved Rahmatullah Nabil as the National Directorate of Security (NDS) chief. Nabil obtained 154 votes from the lawmakers to remain as the NDS chief. He has been serving as the NDS chief since September 2013. Nabil was first appointed as Director General of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) in 2010.(20150128)

The head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Rahmatullah Nabil, resigned over policy disagreements with President Ashraf Ghani. In his resignation letter, Nabil alleged that Ghani had “verbally” asked him to resign. Sources in Pakistan said the Pakistani military and spy agency were also unhappy working with the NDS under Nabil to promote peace in Afghanistan. Some reports had suggested that Islamabad was seeking his resignation. ARG Presidential Palace confirmed President Ghani has accepted the resignation of National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief Rahmatullah Nabil. (20151210)

Rahmatullah Nabil, announced the formation of a new political party that has been established under the name of Mehwar. The leadership council of Mehwar party consists of 74 members. Nabil said the party will never support the collapse of the current government in power.(20170716)

The former Afghan intelligence chief and head of Mehwar-e-Mardum-e-Afghanistan political party Rahmatullah Nabil says he has been threatened by the intelligence chief Mason Stanekzail regarding his political activities.(20171024)

The government of national unity has issued an order putting a ban on Rahmatullah Nabil from leaving the country. The order has been released at a time when Nabil is based outside the country and is scheduled to return back to Afghanistan in the near future. Nabil is also the head of Mehwar-e-Mardum party. The Mehrwar Peoples Party in a statement added that Nabil will return to Afghanistan to continue to continue to his campaign for the realization of the rule of law in the country. According to the party, the recent decision by the government against Nabil has links with his steps and remarks against the military intelligence of the Pakistani military and the current government.

The party in its statement also adds that Nabil had in the past released several documents proving the interference of Pakistani military and intelligence interference in Afghanistan as well as the systematic interference of the leaders of the current government in the 2014 presidential elections. Previously, Nabil claimed that printing equipment for fake ballot papers were found in houses around Wazir Akbar Khan area in Kabul, during the run up to the 2014 elections. He claimed the machines were found in the houses of high-ranking officials who are today part of the National Unity Government (NUG).

(20180204)
 

The CEO’s deputy spokesman Jawed Faisal said on Monday Feb 5, 2018 government respects the political activities of all politicians and Nabil is free to travel anywhere and without any restrictions. Meanwhile, officials from Mehwar-e Mardom-e Afghanistan political group, where Nabil serves as a key member, said government backtracked on its decision following pressure from the US embassy. Sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, from the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), said that the travel ban on Nabil was initially ordered on 6 January, but the order was then cancelled 11 days later.(20180205)
 

Nabil claimed that President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai has dealt on development projects in a bid to receive support in his electoral campaigns, following the upcoming presidential election. “Lands at [Kabul] Airport have been allocated to Alokozay [Group of Companies]. They have helped the president in his electoral campaigns. The fate of these lands is not clear and manufacturing companies have not been established either,” Nabil said. He was apparently, referring to the allocation of 144 acres of government land near the Kabul International Airport to the Alokozay Group of Companies (AGC) for establishing six factories.The land worth $350 million and was allocated to six industrial factories – run by the AGC. However, it seems the factories have not been established yet.(20180806)

Calling the agenda of a peace Jirga or gathering as vague and non-transparent, the electoral team of Nabil has expressed concerns that the political parties, movements, and civil society organizations have been sidelined from the process of ongoing preparations convene the consultative Jirga, while a specific circle has been tasked to make major decisions regarding the convening of the Jirga.(20190415)
 

The two-time head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country’s main intelligence agency, Rahmatullah Nabil is a Pashtun from the central province of Maidan Wardak. Presidential Candidate in 2019 Election  Nabil, 51, is an outspoken opponent of the Taliban and its chief backer, Pakistan. He has also been fiercely critical of Ghani’s administration, blaming him for the growing insecurity and endemic government corruption. His vice presidential running mates are Murad Ali Murad, a Hazara who was the deputy interior minister and an army commander, and Massuda Jalal, an ethnic Tajik who was the former minister of women’s affairs.
 

Afghanistan’s former intelligence director Rahmatullah Nabil along with other former politicians launched a new political party on Monday and released its short-term charter. The Afghanistan National Liberty Party (ANLP) issued a statement and said following the collapse of the previous government in August 2021, and considering the critical and complex situation in the country and the need for greater cohesion among active political and civil groups, the leadership council of the ANLP has decided that now is the appropriate time to officially announce its existence.(20230116)

 

 

Nabil speaks Pashto, Dari, Urdu and English

Last Modified 2023-01-17
Established 2010-07-07